Chris Heck - President of Business Operations

[sne]

Will be on the look out if any new accounts pop up on here named AdmiralHeck76 or similar

[Pongo Waring]

1 hour ago, OutByEaster? said:

Interesting, what are the things he's done so far that you love?

 

1) Cancel that god awful badge 
2) Increase revenue
3) Not be a yes guy. He makes tough decisions. Thinking about our future.
4) Gearing up to build a new stadium   

[Talldarkandransome]

The interview mentioned a few weeks for new badge (at least I think it was the new badge). Then said it will be on the new kit in the summer.

[DJBOB]

Heck might have the charisma of a doorknob but I'd rather someone boring and business-like in the position.

Purslow had that sleezy salesman vibe about him. All "replacement by aggregate" and bringing in a "born winner" and quick decisions about the badge and stadia.

[sidcow]

After being directly asked what Atairos will bring to the table I know nothing more following his answer. 

Edited December 19, 2023 by sidcow

[RicRic]

Was quite sceptical about this Heck fella, listened to him today and i feel assured because even though i want us to rebuild that North Stand and turn it into a modern infrastructure I understand when he says lets not disrupt what we got going on the pitch and he is absolutely spot on, i would said the lockdown year would have been the best ever time to have done this but it what it is.

[sidcow]

32 minutes ago, RicRic said:

Was quite sceptical about this Heck fella, listened to him today and i feel assured because even though i want us to rebuild that North Stand and turn it into a modern infrastructure I understand when he says lets not disrupt what we got going on the pitch and he is absolutely spot on, i would said the lockdown year would have been the best ever time to have done this but it what it is.

If you believe his stated reasons you'll believe anything. They are bullshit and make zero sense. 

[Captain_Townsend]

3 hours ago, villa4europe said:

Based on it barely being used I'm guessing that they will, one thing heck hasn't done or whoever at Villa is responsible for it hasn't done is portrayed to the media that we even have a new badge 

You punch premier league in to Google and the table comes up with our old badge, the premier league website uses our old badge, so do sky

Now we have the 150 year badge

It means next year for at least 6 months we will have 3 badges kicking around, depending on when info for the next badge is released it could get worse 

Id have thought the key to brand identity would be establishing a strong message from the get go...instead we've got a right old mess 

That is because Heck came and announced the new badge was for one season only. This was in June or July and he said that we were keeping the old badge then announced that we were going to get another new badge as the round one hadn't the desired impact.

He is full of crap. 

Edited December 19, 2023 by Captain_Townsend

[Villa_Vids]

I'm frustrated by the North Stand news but he needs more time to implement his own deals, plans and ideas. He seems quite bullish.  Be interesting to see what sort of sponsorships he can bring to the table, he is already talking about adding more merch to the club superstore. The cancellation/delaying of the redevelopment and redesigning the badge could possibly be ego too, not willing to inherit another guy's ideas and plans. Maybe he will cook up his own Villa Park redevelopment plans?

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned there is going to be enhancements at Bodymoor Heath, this is surely a positive? Didn't Unai want a house built there?

[ender4]

1 hour ago, sidcow said:

If you believe his stated reasons you'll believe anything. They are bullshit and make zero sense. 

The more I think about everything off-field since Chris Heck joined Villa, the more I think he’s a complete fraud on par with Keith Wyness and Tom Fox. 

He’s literally just purposefully lied on camera to all Villa fans and thinks we’ll believe his bullshit. 
 

Yes he’s previously told us he’s here purely to increase revenue, but don’t pretend that you want what’s best for fans and spout bullshit.

[WHY]

He’s probably been on the phone to the yank who owns Small Heath about a potential ground share. 

[thabucks]

Think I’ll trust our billionaire owners on this one and not some posters throwing the toys out of the pram over stuff they have zero acumen & understanding about with faux outrage…

But that’s just me 

Edited December 19, 2023 by thabucks

[Villa_Vids]

2 hours ago, sidcow said:

After being directly asked what Atairos will bring to the table I know nothing more following his answer. 

It looked like that bit of the video was edited too.

[villaglint]

1 minute ago, Villa_Vids said:

It looked like that bit of the video was edited too.

It was odd that the interviewer asked about the North Stand and mentioned how excited the fans were about it only to be told it wasn’t happening. Almost like the interviewer had no idea! Given that was probably the major reason for the video seemed odd that wouldn’t have been discussed beforehand. 

[thunderball]

Thought it was a good interview, thought he made some interesting points however gave little away about much.

We stay at Villa Park, pause the +10K expansion, develop the warehouse thing and review/consider development options after the Euros, all framed around “keeping fans in the ground while we are doing well” and “we have a transport problem already which will be made worse by adding another 25% more spectators”.

Our world view/prospects might be seriously elevated in 18months time - make the big decisions then.

[Risso]

1 minute ago, thunderball said:

Thought it was a good interview, thought he made some interesting points however gave little away about much.

We stay at Villa Park, pause the +10K expansion, develop the warehouse thing and review/consider development options after the Euros, all framed around “keeping fans in the ground while we are doing well” and “we have a transport problem already which will be made worse by adding another 25% more spectators”.

Our world view/prospects might be seriously elevated in 18months time - make the big decisions then.

 

How does that make any sense at all? Build it now, and then when we're firmly established in the Top 4 every year, we'll have 10,000 more paying custmers and hugely better hospitality massively increasing our bottom line. The North Stand has needed demoslishing for the last 20 years or more, not doing so makes no sense whatsoever. It's an eyesore, with terrible facilities.

[est1874]

1 minute ago, thunderball said:

Thought it was a good interview, thought he made some interesting points however gave little away about much.

We stay at Villa Park, pause the +10K expansion, develop the warehouse thing and review/consider development options after the Euros, all framed around “keeping fans in the ground while we are doing well” and “we have a transport problem already which will be made worse by adding another 25% more spectators”.

Our world view/prospects might be seriously elevated in 18months time - make the big decisions then.

Can understand why you're saying what you're saying, but waiting for a measure of success to come our way before planning for growth and expansion is not how good businesses should work.

The trajectory has been clear for years - we were careening towards the capacity issue that we now face. It's also been clear for a long long time that VP and the area in general has a significant transport issue. These aren't new considerations, what's new is this guy and his desire to maximise profits above all other things.

I don't really like his strategy tbh, we'll see if it's the right one, something tells me our infrastructure issues will long outlive his tenure at the club, and that will be what I measure him on - not our commercial success in the meantime. The latter takes care of itself if we solve the other issues IMO.

[thunderball]

1 minute ago, Risso said:

 

How does that make any sense at all? Build it now, and then when we're firmly established in the Top 4 every year, we'll have 10,000 more paying custmers and hugely better hospitality massively increasing our bottom line. The North Stand has needed demoslishing for the last 20 years or more, not doing so makes no sense whatsoever. It's an eyesore, with terrible facilities.

Because maybe the new development was a compromise to finish for the Euros. Maybe they have a bigger vision. Maybe they do actually want  and value the home support while we are breaking through. I don’t know? Adding 10K won’t make much material difference to overall revenue, especially when compared with the cost in delivering it so may as well make the right decision. Maybe they are unpicking some Purslow decisions?

I trust them to make the right decisions. 

[Risso]

1 minute ago, thunderball said:

Because maybe the new development was a compromise to finish for the Euros. Maybe they have a bigger vision. Maybe they do actually want  and value the home support while we are breaking through. I don’t know? Adding 10K won’t make much material difference to overall revenue, especially when compared with the cost in delivering it so may as well make the right decision. Maybe they are unpicking some Purslow decisions?

I trust them to make the right decisions. 

10,000 extra fans will make a huge difference, especially with upgraded hospitality facilities which are unbelievably shite in the North. The stand is terrible, and it needs replacing. What would the bigger vision be exactly? Heck hasn't got a single thing right since he walked through the door. I thought Tom Fox's communication skills were poor, but this imbecile really takes the biscuit.

[OutByEaster?]

19 minutes ago, villaglint said:

Almost like the interviewer had no idea! Given that was probably the major reason for the video seemed odd that wouldn’t have been discussed beforehand. 

I would have thought that Heck would have written both the questions and answers to that interview,